Pavin said once his doctor said would make a full recovery — and his elbow would be stronger than ever — the former UCLA standout felt a little better.

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Oxnard native Corey Pavin is back in Ventura County this week to compete in the Powershares QQQ Championship at Sherwood Country Club
Bob Buttitta

“I knew I would have around 10½ months that I would be out, so trying to find the silver lining, I looked at it as an opportunity to be home for an extended time,” Pavin said. “I had never had a time where I have been away from the game that long. It was kind of a nice break in a way.

“It was nice to be at home and spend more time with Lisa (his wife) and Alexis (his daughter) and to be kind of a Mr. Mom. I was able to do some of those things I have never been able to do. In that regard, it was a nice 10 months.”

Pavin missed last year’s inaugural Powershares QQQ Championship at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, which is part of the PGA Tour Champions Schwab Cup playoffs.

The former Ventura County resident is thrilled to be in the field for this year's tournament, which starts Friday and features the top 54 money winners on the tour. The top 36 finishers advance to the Charles Schwab Cup Championship on Nov. 10-12 in Phoenix.

Even though he didn’t play his first tournament until March, Pavin has played well enough to rank 23rd on the Schwab Cup money list.

Pavin said he loves having a playoff series on the Champions Tour like the FedEx Cup series on the PGA Tour. Pavin wasn’t sure exactly how the system worked, but now that he’s heavily involved, he’s enjoying the competition.

“Having played the last few weeks I’ve able to see how much movement there is,” Pavin said. “... Where I sit at 23, I feel pretty comfortable that I will be in Phoenix in two weeks, but I obviously want to play well this week to try and improve my standing and put myself in a better spot to move up the finals.”

With the event at Sherwood, Pavin has the unique chance to play a tournament that allows him to stay at home. In recent years Pavin relocated from Texas back to Southern California, and now lives in Los Angeles. His mother, two brothers and many friends still live in Ventura County.

“It’s really nice to be at home and playing a tournament,” Pavin said after his Pro-Am round Wednesday. “It does not happen really at all. I am sure I will have a nice amount of people out to watch over the weekend.”

Pavin played the Shark Shootout at Sherwood several times in the mid-1990s and while the course has undergone some renovations, he said it’s basically the same as he remembers.

“It’s a course that is pretty much in front of you,” Pavin said. “It’s a course that is pretty fair for everybody. I can reach most par 5s, and if I can reach them, then everyone can reach them.

“For me, that is always a big factor in a course: the par 5s. I prefer a course with two par 5s; this one has four. But I can reach almost all of them so it makes it OK.”

Having never dealt with a major injury, Pavin was surprised and a little frustrated with how long it took him to get back into tournament shape.

Not touching a club for seven months, it took Pavin several months of practice to knock off the rust.

When he first came back, he was not comfortable hitting 200 to 250 golf balls at the range. Once he was able to push through and practice until he was exhausted, Pavin went to work with his swing coach Greg Labelle.

“I had not played or almost 11 months, so it took a while to get a feel for playing tournament golf again,” Pavin said. “My swing took a long time to get back into the shape where I thought it should be. It was a matter of getting a lot of reps. It took longer than I anticipated but maybe it’s normal.”

In late June, Pavin started to see his game rounding into shape. Since June he has had two top-10 finishes — a second at the Senior British Open and a second two weeks ago at the SAS Championship. He has had six top-25 finishes this season.

“It was nice to play well and contend and have a chance to win,” he said. “A putt or two here and there it might have been a different story. I’ve had some high finishes but I have not finished off a few tournaments the way I would like.”

PGA Tour Champions Powershares QQQ Championship

Where: Sherwood Country Club, Thousand POaks

When: Friday through Sunday

Purse: $2,000,000 total, with winner receiving $305,000.

Field: Top 54 on the Schwab Cup money list. 52 of the 54 eligible players are in the field (No. 9 Fred Couples and No. 35 Steve Stricker are not playing).

Note: This is the second of three Charles Schwab Cup playoff events. The top 36 players on the money list at the end of play Sunday advance to the finals in Phoenix in two weeks.